The Tragic Tyrant
by Universe
Summary: The story of Frieza's childhood, beginning a few moments after his birth and continuing through the years that lead up to his eventual tyranny.
1. It Begins

_wynter

Author's note: I've revised this fic a bit and changed the title, as the other one was just a working title. It's still a work in progress.

I made up a name for the heart virus that made Goku sick in the Android Saga(you'll see it in the fic, I won't spoil it here), and I'm also portraying it that Frieza's kind can carry it after being ill with it once. So, in essence, it originated on their planet. I'm only mentioning it because it shows up in my fic. 

Another thing I should warn you about is adult content(lemon, etc.) and issues that might make a few people un-easy. I hope nobody is offended by my bringing them to light. 

One other thing is that I mention Icejin ages in this story, and I go by their years when I do this, so just multiply all ages by five to get their Earth ages(I made this equation up to get their ages, so don't hold it accountable ^_^;;). And…I sorta borrowed a scene from the movie My Girl…will you recognize it when you see it? *Shrugs* You might ^_^ OK, here we go!

***

  
Blackness settled over the Icejin homeworld as the sun, which gave little to no warmth, sank below the horizon. It really made no difference whether it was up or down, because it barely gave the planet any light.

Nocturnal animals with no eyes and bioluminescent skin dared to venture out and find some food while predators lurked about. Glowing plants slowly slid into view like a snail emerging from its shell, drinking in the cool night air as if the oxygen itself were a source of food.

High above it all, a huge purple stronghold with glorious crystal spires and metallic purple bricks seemed to loom, a slumbering beast watching over the land. The palace was a very ornate one, and it always looked very beautiful in the morning when the sunlight caused millions of colors to dance off the crystal spires.

Inside, despite the peaceful outward appearance, it was anything but quiet...

The Tragic Tyrant  
Chapter 1  
It Begins

A gaunt and wrinkled newborn wriggled about in a purple egg-shaped bassinet. Obsidian stubs gleamed on either side of a purple cabochon. Red eyes situated beneath a bony white brow filled with tears and squeezed shut as a pale face flushed. Tiny lavender hands with prune fingers balled into fists and flailed insistently. Miniature nostrils framed by a tiny tipped-up nose flared. Black lips gaped and trembled as screams rang out through the halls.

__

I'm hungry! The cries seemed to say.

"Listen to those cries!" A massive light-purple hand lowered, slid underneath the crying infant and lifted him off the bassinet. The haughty voice seemed to crack, "That's the cry of a future warrior..."

Another hand like the first lowered a bottle filled with deep blue milk towards the screaming newborn's flushed face. The tiny creature's cries died instantly as he latched onto the nipple and started suckling. He opened his wide red eyes to peer innocently up at the visage of whoever was feeding him. When he finished eating his fill, he yawned, put his thumb into his mouth and closed his eyes to sleep. The hand holding his helpless form carefully lowered him back into the bassinet and moved away.

Glints of blue surrounded in white appeared in the shadows, "So, are you going to name him after mother?"

"No, she wouldn't want that." Leathery black lips framed by light purple flesh pulled into a slow, sad smile. "I've already chosen his name."

The shadows shifted. "Then what are you going to name him?"

"Frieza."

****

"Cooler!" A young, raspy and high-pitched voice roared to echo through the marble halls, "You had better get your tail back here with that hologram!"

"Catch me first, you runt!" Laughed a tall purple figure with blue armor plating on his white skull structure. The teenage culprit known as Cooler thumbed his nose at his little brother and took off running down another hall. "Frieza, you are so slow! Come on!"

"Shut up!" The second figure panted. He was shorter than the first, and much paler. A strange wreath of white bone adorned the metallic purple dome on his scalp, where twin horns jutted out on either side. He was clad in purple armor with a long dark purple cape, the cape being there to show he was a prince.

Cooler stopped running for the second time and regarded Frieza with a smirk. He sure enjoyed teasing his kid brother…it was his duty. Each day he found one way or another to piss him off, and this was no exception. Snapping a hologram of him picking his nose had gotten a priceless reaction, he thought.

"I think this would be a great projection on the palace wall, don't you?"

"Grrr!" Young Frieza growled as he lunged at Cooler and knocked him smack into the wall. The impact could be heard throughout the castle as he started pounding into his big brother with his small fists. He was making his hatred of being teased very apparent when a larger figure stepped in.

Twin horns standing up like a bull's gleamed as they jutted from a shelf of white bone similar to Frieza's, and a haughty voice rang out, "Hey! Both of you, stop this childish behavior this instant!"

Both children froze in mid-motion; Frieza with his fist held back to bash Cooler's face in, and Cooler with his tail wrapped around Frieza's left horn. Twin pairs of red eyes turned to meet a large third pair. Cooler's tail uncurled from Frieza's horn, Frieza lowered his fist and both rose to their feet to regard their father.

King Kold regarded his children with his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. It really irritated him that Cooler was just finishing his nineteenth year and still continued to pester Frieza, who was barely eight.

"Now that we are being civil, what the meaning of _this_?"  
  
Cooler opened his mouth to reply when Frieza pointed an accusing finger at his face and shouted, "He started it!"

King Kold's eyes turned towards Frieza, narrowed a bit, then rolled in Cooler's direction, "Cooler? Care to elaborate a little?"

A growl rose in Cooler's throat as he shot a nasty glare in his little brother's direction. Any time he and Frieza got into something, Frieza always got off easily. Cooler hated that to no end, especially since he always wound up getting the worst punishments.

"I was just trying to have a little fun with him, father. Really, he just had a hissy fit over it," Cooler explained, twitching his tail nervously, "He should learn not to pick his nose where people can see it."

"Grrr!" Frieza growled.

"Frieza!" Kold warned, then turned his attention back to Cooler, "Delete the hologram and go to your room. I will speak to you later."

"But father!"

"NOW!!!"

Without further hesitation or argument, Cooler pressed a button and the little holo-cylinder in his hand beeped once to indicate all files had been deleted from its memory. He shoved the little silver device into Frieza's hands and muttered, "I hope you get sick and drop dead, you little brat!" Then he walked past his growling younger brother and down the hall to his private quarters. Frieza stuck his tongue out at him as he passed.  
  
"Now," The large Icejin glared down at the miniature version of himself, or what was very close to it, and the little one faced him as he started to speak "I thought I told you to stop picking at your nose! That is a disgusting child's habit that spreads infections all over the place, and I won't have that sort of thing going on in my palace. It antagonizes your brother into these sorts of games!"

Frieza nervously fixed his eyes on the floor, intimidated by his large father's presence. He hated being the smallest; it always got him teased and chased around.

"Yes, papa."

Kold smirked a little and tipped his head back to peer down his nose at Frieza's small form, "You do remember what happens to children that pick their noses, don't you?"

Frieza heaved a sigh and flicked his armored tail, "The magic snail in my nose will bite my finger off."

"Be sure to remember that the next time you think about picking at your nose. I find it astonishing that you still have all ten of those fingers with that nasty habit."

"Papa, may I go lie down? I don't feel well…" Frieza sighed again, being honest this time. He felt like he had what humans called the flu, and couldn't stop panting for breath. Little pains were shooting off in his chest, but for all he knew it was a pulled muscle.

Kold sighed at Frieza's way of dodging his discipline and gave him a nudge with one large foot, "Go ahead. It is your bedtime anyway."

Frieza turned from his father and started down the hall without glancing back. He was so intent on the little cylinder in his hands that he didn't notice the second body rounding the corner until he had made a head-on collision and ended up on his butt. The sound of glass shattering mixed with the young Icejin's muttered cursing as he got to his feet and patted the dust from his rear end. He finally jerked his eyes up to protest to the other person, only to stop in surprise before his monologue could leave his lips.

Blue-green armor plating scintillated against snow white skin. Rosy-purple lips were parted in shock and fear, matching the fear dawning in the large wide-set pair of dark green eyes. A white tail flicked to and fro nervously and a pair of three-toed feet took a careful step back.

Frieza blinked at the frightened female Icejin, who looked to be around eleven or twelve years of age. She looked weird, in his opinion, because she had no skull structure or horns; the way she looked reminded him of what he was told his fourth form would look like someday. His eyes quickly jerked down towards the shattered dinner plate he had caused her to drop. 

Without speaking, the girl quickly bowed her apology and began to sweep up the broken glass before someone stepped on it and got hurt. Frieza didn't speak at all as he tipped his nose up to show he was more important than the servant and pranced into his room, momentarily forgetting the pains in his chest.

It was the middle of the night, and just about everyone in the palace was asleep. All but one, a small shape with metallic purple adorning his head.

Frieza was in the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life. His skin was soaked with sweat and one pale hand clutched his left pectoral muscle as hot pokers jabbed his heart from the inside. At first, it had started out like heartburn, then it started to grow worse and concentrate on one spot behind his sternum.

"Coo- Coo-…" The little Icejin panted as he tried to raise his voice high enough to be heard. It was so painful to breathe, so painful to move, more painful with each beat of his heart, "…COOLER!!!"

The agonized cry woke Cooler from a sound sleep, and he staggered out of bed before his eyes could fully open. His purple form made its way blindly down the corridor to Frieza's room, where he manually pried the sliding doors open and rushed inside.

"Frieza?! What's going on?"  
  
"C-Cooler…AAAHHH! I think…Unh! I think I'm dying…" Frieza whispered through the veil of tears his pain was causing him. He burst into sobs and drew his knees up close to his body as the pain grew overwhelming.

Cooler blinked and raced to the bed, now fully awake, and laid a hand across Frieza's forehead. The carapace was hotter than an oven, and growing hotter by the second. He snatched his purple digits away from the burning bone structure and shook it to get rid of the pain.

"I'm going to get father. Stay here and hang on!" He squeezed Frieza's small hand, then raced from the room in a full-out run and dashed to the opposite wing of the palace where King Kold's quarters were. Purple fists pounded a metal door open, sending loud obnoxious snores into the hallway, and a pair of three-toed feet raced to the edge of a large bed. "Father!"

King Kold turned over and continued to snore through an open mouth. The shadow next to his bed rose, and seconds later, Cooler's fist was connecting solidly with his jaw. That was enough to wake the large Icejin king from his sound slumber, and he jerked bolt upright.

"Cooler!! What the hell is the mean-"

"Frieza is sick!" Cooler interjected before his angry father could finish.

"So sit with him until he falls asleep…" Kold yawned irritably and brushed his hand across his drooping red eyes.

The young Icejin grabbed onto his father's muscular arm and started tugging as hard as his strength would allow, "I think it's the Pericardial Sclerosis virus, father! He's screaming in agony!"

That made Kold wake up fully. There was no cure for that kind of disease!  
  
"WHAT!?" He shoved Cooler aside, jumped out of bed and raced down the hall. Frieza's cries of pain reached his ears long before he reached the child's room. Cooler arrived just behind him and peered around the doorframe at the unfolding scene.

Frieza was curled up in a tight ball on the bed, which was becoming soaked as he started to lose control of his bodily functions. The pain was so intense that he didn't even care, he just kept screaming each time his heart contracted to pump blood through his body.

"AAAHHH! AAAHHH! AAAHHH-AAAHHH! AUUGGGHHH!!!"  
  
"Frieza!" Kold moved quickly to the bed and ignored the liquid waste pouring from his son's body as he lifted him away from the puddle on the bed. "Frieza, can you hear me?!" His reply was a ripping scream that nearly shattered his eardrums, and he quickly turned to Cooler. "Cooler, wake the medical technicians and tell them we have an emergency!"

Cooler abruptly nodded, "Right." He disappeared down the hall, dashing right past a small white shape that had been awakened by all the commotion.

King Kold dragged Frieza's wet clothing off and wrapped him in a dry sheet. "Hang on, son, everything is going to be just fine…" he breathed as he raced down the hall with his seriously ill child in his arms.

Cooler pressed his hand to the glass window as he watched Frieza lie there in the medical ward. He was in a drug-induced sleep to keep the pain at bay, and there were monitors beeping all around him. The one registering his heartbeat was growing weaker and more irregular. A thin nasal cannula was draped across his face, feeding him oxygen to help him breathe. His soft, slightly trembling black lips had grown dry and cracked, some of the color draining from them as his heart grew less and less able to pump blood through his body.

"I didn't mean it…" The young Icejin felt tears welling up in his eyes, "I didn't mean it when I said I hoped you would get sick and die!" He balled the hand on the glass into a fist as the tears made their way down his red-lined cheeks.

Inside, King Kold loomed over the frightened yellow technician that was going over the test results, which confirmed what Cooler had thought earlier.

The Pericardial Sclerosis virus was a feared thing among Icejins. Though rare, it was deadly to just about anyone who came down with it, and there was no cure. It always attacked the pericardial sac around the heart, hardening it into something molecularly similar to diamond. The heart itself would begin to swell, and that combined with the hardening pericardial sac would result in permanent damage or a ruptured heart. It had a one-year incubation period, and if the unfortunate person who came down with it was lucky enough to survive, they would be a carrier for the rest of their life.

All the adults in the castle had been vaccinated against it, but only those ten years of age and older had a system mature enough to handle the vaccine without having brain-damaging seizures.

"…so how long will it be?" Kold asked flatly with downcast eyes. One beefy hand was drawn in a fist at his side while the other rested against the wall. It was almost as if the wall was the only thing holding him up against the grief that was beginning to rise against him.

"It could be at any time, Sire. I'm terribly sorry. We will run tests and try to come up with something, but this virus has as many forms as the common cold…"  
  
The Icejin king made a dismissive gesture and turned to look down at Frieza, who was lying with his pale hands folded on his chest. He placed a massive hand over the two tiny ones, which disappeared completely under his palm. So cold, Frieza's tiny hands were like ice. 

__

He has his mother's hands… Kold mused silently, thinking very briefly about his mate, who had died giving birth to Frieza. Cooler looked more like her than Frieza did, but those fine-boned hands with delicate tapered fingers had come from her. _Chylla…_

Frieza's fingers twitched when his father's hand covered them. He didn't wake up or show any response to his presence, but he knew he was there.

"My poor boy..." Kold let his other hand rest on Frieza's fever-ravaged forehead and stared down at him before finally lowering his large face down to press a kiss into the child's temple. He only showed his affections towards the children while they were asleep. Pride, he was sure, made him keep a hard exterior in front of those around him.  
  
Cooler closed his eyes as his tears dripped onto the glass and slid down the shiny smooth surface. He noticed another reflection in the glass and quickly wiped his eyes, turning to find the servant girl that Frieza had slammed into earlier. She was peering curiously into the medical bay.

That girl was the newest servant to arrive at the palace, having only been there for about a month. She was always quiet as a mouse, having never been heard to speak a word. Rumors often claimed she was a mute or autistic because of her silence.

"Hey." Cooler spoke to her as he searched his brain for her name, "…Wynter, is it?"

Looking startled, the girl straightened, faced Cooler and nodded with a quick bow.

"You shouldn't be here, work-rat." He said a little coldly, frowning down at her small form. Aside from teasing Frieza, scaring slaves was one of his favorite things to do, especially when he was in a really bad mood. "My brother wet his bed. Go change the sheets."

Wynter's eyes fluttered nervously. She bowed quickly without a sound and dashed off into the corridor to grab some fresh linens. 

For a moment or two, she ran a delicate hand over the soft purple velvet material in her grasp as she pulled it out of the linen pile. It was a beautiful material, in her opinion, much nicer than the soft leather bedsheets she slept under. She was sure it was much warmer too, and a smile adorned her violet lips as she carried the folded linens into the young prince's quarters.  
  
The scent in the room made the Icejin female wrinkle her nose a little, and she began to wonder why boys always had to be so messy. Her duties resumed their priorities in her mind, and she swiftly brushed aside all disgust while her careful hands went about removing the soiled linens.

In the meantime, Cooler was staring into space when his father's voice woke him from his reverie, "Cooler, go sit with him for awhile. I need to get a few things in order and prepare a service for his passing." His voice was subdued, not at all near the angry bellow he usually spoke with. "If he dies before I return, stay with him until I can get back in here. Otherwise his spirit will wander, and I don't want this castle haunted."

"Yes, father." The young Icejin nodded once, feeling uncomfortable, and stepped through the plastic door to the medical bay. A force field passed over his skin to kill all bacteria he might bring in.

Frieza didn't move much when Cooler sat down next to his bed. His skin was taking on a more ashen tone and the tips of his fingers were starting to become more purple than normal as his blood started to settle in them.

"Frieza," Cooler whispered as the sobs started to rise above his ability to control them. He hadn't cried since he was a very small child, but he felt like Frieza's illness was all his fault. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I didn't mean what I said earlier…"

He felt a hot palm touch the back of his hand and looked over to find his little brother looking at him through one half-open eye. The little boy on the bed didn't speak, but his cracked lips showed the tiniest hint of a smile before his eye slid shut once again, and Cooler knew that Frieza had forgiven him. He closed his purple hand around the small pale one lying in his and held it.

About three hours passed, and each moment was filled with Cooler looking from the heart monitor to his brother and back. Every once in awhile, he would glance at the window to outside and find Wynter peering in. She never entered the medical bay, but her presence was certainly uncalled for.

Then again, it wasn't uncommon for people to stop by and peek in to check Frieza's progress; after all, not everyone knew of the poor prognosis.

Frieza had been placed into a drug-induced coma to ward off the pain, and his vitals were starting to weaken by the hour. The pain was completely erased from his expression, and his pouty little lips formed a slight smile across the bottom of his pale face. His dreamy sleep-smile, a look he could only achieve while sound asleep. 

"You're cute, even if you are a little brat." Cooler chuckled bitterly at his sleeping brother. Tears had been familiar company on the skin of his cheeks for the past few hours, along with another urge. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the call of nature started to grow more and more apparent. He even looked around for a container to use so he didn't have to leave the room, but when he found none, he had no choice.

"I'll be back, Frieza. Don't leave without me." The purple Icejin spoke as if his younger sibling could respond and quickly jogged out into the corridor where the waste-elimination unit was.

Wynter clutched the linens she was washing and stepped closer to the basin as Cooler dashed by, shooting a glare at his retreating back as he went by. She finished washing and placed the delicate material into the drying unit to be dried, then shook the water droplets off her pale hands.  
  
Light from the medical bay window caught Wynter's eye as she started down the corridor. She approached the glass and pressed a delicate palm to it's surface, her breath fogging the window a little as she peered in. Frieza was all alone in there, and probably scared. Being one of the people not aware of his prognosis, she felt her heart beat faster when the heart monitor above the bed started to show irregular ridges and valleys across the screen.

Wynter finally steeled her nerves, held her head up with confidence and ventured into the sterilized zone. Frieza didn't move, just as before, even when she placed another pillow under his head for comfort. Her dark green eyes were drawn to the heart monitor once again. 

Never in her life had she ever seen someone with such a weak heartbeat! It was almost pathetic, in her mind, and she crossed her arms as if daring that poor heart to stop beating.

Of course, she had only dared it to happen, so she was caught by surprise when that very thing happened right before her young eyes.

  
_This is it...goodbye world._ Frieza thought as he heard the monitor flatline, the sound penetrating to the very core of his consciousness. It faded into the distance after awhile, leaving him in a featureless void similar to the un-memorable hours of deep sleep. Then, after a short eternity, he felt suction on the front of his body and opened his eyes to find himself looking down at his own body on the bed. 

All at once, he was in darkness that flashed intermittently with color. He saw himself being pulled from between the smooth dark purple legs of a screaming woman. He saw himself standing in the middle of a thunderstorm, laughing like a madman. He saw the destruction of a planet, a brilliant explosion so large his mind couldn't even begin to comprehend its size.

Then, suddenly, his terrified outline was painlessly whisked up through the medical bay ceiling. He flew into a narrow blue gridline corridor that became tighter and brighter until, with a blinding flash, it finally thrust him into space. His forward motion was so fast the stars were little more than bright walls of solid white light with a smudge of black straight ahead.. 

The suction eventually drew him into a twisting wormhole with shimmering pink gasses swirling about like the walls of a destructive cyclone. Faster and faster, harder and harder, his forward motion increased until he could see nothing but a blur.

A loud whoosh sounded, and Frieza jerked to a stop at the entrance of a gently rotating silver vortex as big around as a planet. Far away, a distant star in the sky, a white light glowed invitingly. All memories of fear left his memory when he laid his eyes upon the brilliant glow. 

For a moment, Frieza stopped and looked back to see how far he traveled. He could still see himself lying there on the table, even though he was billions of light-years away from home. 

Who was that other person standing beside his bed?

No, that didn't matter, nor did anything else. All that mattered was getting to that light…

  
Wynter reached over and laid a hand on Frieza's chest to shake him once. Frieza's eyes remained rolled back and closed; blind to life, yet still seeing. His body was numb, yet continuing to feel. His ears had gone deaf, yet they continued to hear. His mind no longer functioned, yet it continued its wild trip in attempt to make sense of the plateau between life and death. 

She closed her eyes as fears of being accused for murdering him began worm their way into her mind. Her fate was sealed for sure if she didn't do something fast! 

__

I can't let him die! Wynter thought fiercely. As if the thought itself were a flash of lightning that calmed her wiry nerves, the girl took a deep breath and opened her eyes to stare up at the flatlined monitor. 

  
The light was so massive it almost filled Frieza's entire field of vision, and there were voices and laughter coming from within. The closer he got, the more he wanted to become part of it, and the more he forgot about his terrestrial life. 

A tall dark purple figure was standing there, waiting, looking down at him with gentle ruby eyes; the same woman he'd seen before being thrust into the frightening wormhole. She looked so much like Cooler that he would have thought he was staring at his big brother if it wasn't for the obvious feminine curves and kind smile.

The woman extended her hand and Frieza's forward motion halted. He struggled to move closer, only to find he was effectively frozen in place.

__

"Not today, little love…not today…" Her black lips didn't move when she spoke, and her voice seemed to come from everywhere. It was the most beautiful music he ever heard.

Before Frieza could get a chance to even think of speaking, the woman lowered her hand, and he was falling backwards. Far, far away from the light, and far, far away from that musical voice. He traveled backwards through the gentle tunnel, back through billions of light-years of space, back through the nasty vortex and back through the gridline corridor. He glimpsed the medical bay ceiling just a split second prior to feeling a hard impact and hearing the thud as he was slammed back into his body. 

The ceiling shrank as he sank away from consciousness. It felt like being thrust underwater without taking in enough air. He was suffocating!

Using every ounce of willpower he could muster, Frieza crawled back towards that flicker of consciousness and gasped for the air he so desperately needed. He heard a loud surge as his heart started to pump blood through his body once again, and his eyes fluttered open to fix on the glowing green-eyed angel hovering above his bed...  
  
  
A blue light came from nowhere and stabbed its way out of the medical bay window to shine into the corridor. The doctors working in the medical bay all stopped what they were doing to see what was going on, and a few shouted at each other in protest as they collided with one another in their haste to move.

"What the!?" Cooler jerked his head towards the light as he finished his business. He dashed into the corridor just in time to see Wynter lunge through the plastic med-bay doors, look around for a few seconds, then take off running down another corridor.

With his heart rising into his throat at the idea of his brother dying without someone near him, Cooler forgot about Wynter and raced up to the med-bay. He skidded to a stop outside the door when he saw the most shocking sight he would ever see.

Frieza was sitting up in the bed, peeling equipment off his body while doctors stood around him in puzzlement.

__

To be continued...


	2. The Mute Speaks

_wynter2

The Tragic Tyrant  
Chapter 2  
The Mute Speaks

"So you're saying he simply sat up, just like that?" King Kold was saying as he paced around the medical bay. Frieza was sitting up on the bed nearby, nibbling on something resembling a drumstick with red meat on it, and his head swept from side to side as he watched his father pace around without having a clue what the whole uproar was about. He was too content with filling his growling belly with juicy food to really care, and he swished his tail idly while the more serious people in the room carried on a conversation.

"Yeah! I was eliminating some bio-waste when I saw a flash of light and came running in here thinking he was dead, and he was sitting up. Of course…no, she couldn't have anything to do with it…" Cooler replied. He reached over to steal something off his little brother's plate, and got his hand smacked with a meaty drumstick for his efforts.

Kold's cape rustled in protest when he halted his pacing and peered down at his eldest son with a wary eye. His nostrils flared a little as he spoke, "She? Who?"

"Well…that little mute girl who came here about a month ago. Wynter. I saw her run out into the hall after the flash in the medical bay." He replied honestly. "She looked pretty spooked."

"Mph neh mehmah nyfeneh." Frieza mumbled with his mouth full.  
  
"Swallow before you speak, boy." Kold remarked.

Frieza promptly gulped his mouthful down and spoke, "I don't remember anything." Then he emitted a loud belch that threw Cooler into a round of laughter. Frieza started to giggle about it too, and Kold sighed in disgust at their behavior.  
  
"Enough! This is SERIOUS!" The King bellowed, instantly silencing the two children the way dirt snuffs out a fire. 

He glared at them both and sighed mentally. This goofing around was all fine and dandy while they were toddlers, but it was time for them to start growing up. Cooler especially, since he was supposed to be a role model for his little brother. Kold could remember his own parents telling him it was time to grow up when he reached his tenth year. Without any siblings, he had to look to his father as a role model, and his father had been anything but gentle as a parent.

Frieza sure reminded him of himself as a child, both in appearance and personality. Kold regarded the youngest boy for a moment, remembering the times his father would beat him to a pulp over the same nose-picking habit Frieza had now. He had promised himself never to harm the boy over it…he would grow out of it eventually, even if it was rather embarrassing.

Biting back those bad, abusive memories, the large Icejin king turned his aging face towards his two sons once again. "I will find this girl and speak to her then. She may just happen to be one of the rarest types of Icejin there are."  
  
Pausing with the dripping drumstick halfway in his mouth, Frieza grunted in annoyance. He _hated_ it when people talked about something without clueing him in, "What are you talking about?"

Kold turned his large head to look over at the boy, "Nothing you need to worry about. You just eat your dinner." With those words, he motioned for Cooler to follow him outside the door and started to speak again when he emerged, "If you saw what you say you saw, then that means Wynter might actually be a healer."

Cooler coughed against the palm of his hand as if he were choking on his own spit and stared at his father questioningly, "You're kidding, right? Only one in every million births will produce a healer! And they're _weaklings_ too! They only have like…what?...two transformations…"

"It doesn't matter. I want her found so I can…thank her…personally."

"Very well, father."

Blue-green glittered in the artificial sunlight, appearing more blue because of the false atmosphere of the greenhouse. A white hand clutched the end of a metal watering pale that was currently pouring water over various plants in all colors and shapes.

Wynter loved working out in the gardens, because she loved flowers. She loved to bury her nose in them when they were in bloom, and she loved to find new buds. The plants were like her babies, depending on her for everything.

The young girl went about watering the six foot tall blue flower stalk in the corner and grinned up at the large drooping tear-drop shaped blossom that scintillated with iridescent petals. So lovely, the Keeper's Heart flower…her favorite. She reached up and stroked the two-foot-long petals as if the plant itself could feel her gentle caress, and it shimmered with each pass of her palm.

King Kold watched Wynter from the shadows while trying to formulate questions he could ask in a yes-or-no manner. He knew the girl would spot him sooner or later, and he rather enjoyed it when people showed their surprise at his sudden presence.

Almost as soon as the large Icejin let that thought pass through his mind, Wynter's eyes opened, fear rose up in their emerald depths and she quickly dropped her watering pail so she could bow to the king. 

In the back of her mind, Wynter was wondering what could have brought him there, and she was just hoping he didn't plan to use her as a punching bag. Then again, another part of her was rather irritated that men always had to act so high and mighty. Someday, someone would put them in their place!

"Ah yes, hello Wynter. You may rise." Kold spoke with an air of nonchalance.  
  
Wynter straightened so fast that spots danced across her eyes for a few moments, and she kept her eyes on the floor, for a palace servant was not worthy to look a King in the eyes. _Oh no! What does he want from me?_ She thought nervously, _Could he have found out…oh please no!_

"You will not be harmed, little girl. I merely come with a couple of questions."

Nodding once, she laced her fingers together behind her back as her heart started to beat even faster than before. Was he going to send her away?

"Did you go into the medical bay at any time earlier?" Kold asked carefully.

Wynter winced visibly upon hearing the question. Someone had seen her, so she had no choice but to be honest. She offered King Kold a slow, barely detectable nod.

"Very well, then." He stepped out of the shadows until his entire intimidating form was in the light, and his eyes never left the girl's scalp-armor, "Did you use any powers of any kind on Frieza while you were there? Any at all?"

Again, she winced in fear and nodded once.

A smile spread across King Kold's black lips, revealing teeth that looked as if they had never chewed anything un-natural, and he spoke very pleasantly, "So you did heal Frieza." He dipped his head slightly to her and continued, "I merely came to thank you. He was near death until you came along, and you saved his life."

Wynter nearly jerked her head up to look in his eyes and see if he was playing some cruel prank. Then she remembered her place and remained motionless for a few seconds. She finally gathered her wits enough to offer a respectful bow, as if to thank him for his thank-you.

"Carry on." The tall Icejin swept his blue cape around his body and turned, sweeping out of the greenhouse with a strange grandeur in his step.

Wynter dared to raise her eyes at his retreating back and sighed in relief. Even if he had come to thank her, that man still scared the life out of her!

__

Maybe he really was thankful… She thought to herself, _After all, Prince Frieza is the youngest of the two children here, and no youngster deserves to die…_

Frieza was absolutely bored out of his mind as he sat on the stool next to his desk. The math problems he was trying to work out were way too complicated, in his opinion, and he HATED the teaching program his father had given him. After all, he could be out playing right now, but noooooo! He had to do this stupid arithmetic!  
  
Hissing his boredom, the little Icejin wrote a few figures down with the digital pen and watched the computer check his answer. When it marked it wrong for the billionth time, he slapped the computer screen with his slightly chubby palm and spouted an obscene word that would have him tasting a fist if his father had heard it.

"Stupid thing! According to you, I can't get anything right now, can I!?" Frieza spat as if the machine would answer him. He slammed the crystalline pen down and rested his chin on his palm to stare out the window. His finger absently made its way into his nose, performing the disgusting habit that made King Kold so angry, but it was so automatic that he didn't even realize he was doing it.

Wynter was sitting on a rock outside, looking just as bored as he was. She had done everything that was required of her so far, so she had some free time. For a palace servant, free time can be a blessing. But today, it was just boredom. There was no extra work to catch up on, no good books to read. Just plain nothing. 

Frieza stuck his tongue out at his closed quarters door and placed his foot on the windowsill. It was a long drop, but he had enough _Bukujitsu_ skills to keep himself aloft. With a loud grunt, the small Icejin heaved himself out the window and sailed downwards for several seconds, creating a cushion of ki between himself and the ground, thus causing his fall to slow to a stop. He fluttered the rest of the way to the ground like a falling autumn leaf, landing less-than-gracefully behind Wynter.

Wynter jumped about a foot and bristled when she saw the young prince sprawled out after his clumsy landing. Frieza quickly got to his feet as if nothing had happened, but a huge dead leaf was clinging to one of his horns and making him look very comical. The girl placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Frieza pouted, tipping his head back to show off his importance. The leaf on his horn just made Wynter laugh more, despite her efforts not to. The boy's eyes rolled towards the offending leaf, and he promptly sweatdropped before reaching up to yank it off. Then he swished his cape around his body the way he had often see his father do and spoke in a commanding tone, "Stop that laughing! Don't laugh at me!"

Wynter promptly stopped laughing and stared at him in half-horror, half-confusion. She was just having some fun with him, and he had gone off on her! What was up with that?

"Too bad I can't make you say you're sorry. Mutes! They are no fun!" Frieza turned his back to the girl and growled. She stuck her tongue out at him while his back was turned, then returned to her previous expression when he whirled around to face her again, unaware of what she had done behind his back. "Wait a minute here! A mute can't talk back, so HA, HA, HA! Mute! Blah, blah! Stupid mute!!"

This rude teasing was starting to wear on Wynter's nerves quickly, and it hurt! Especially since she was quite sensitive about what he was teasing her over. She had the urge to reach over and slap the little brat, but that would get her in fatal trouble that she would rather not experience. So, instead, she pointed a white finger at him and her face did a strange contortion of concentration.

"Sh-sh-sh-shut-t up-p-p!" Wynter cried from beneath a trembling tongue and lips, "Q-q-q-quit c-c-calling m-me a m-mut-t-te!"

Frieza stopped laughing instantly and stared at Wynter like she was growing fluorescent hairs from her armpits. She had just talked! Nobody had EVER heard her speak during the whole time she had been at the palace! Her silence was all because of a very severe speech impediment…but being the spoiled brat that he was, the Icejin boy just snickered in her face again.

"J-j-just what are you g-g-gonna do about it?" He jeered.

Wynter looked around, bit her lip and picked up the bucket of water she was planning to bathe with. She held it over the giggling prince's head, dumped the freezing water all over him and jammed the bucket down over his head. Then she started to cry and disappeared into the shadows.

Frieza screamed angrily and yanked the bucket off his head. No girl would ever get the better of him! Especially not a servant! NEVER EVER!!!   
  
But then again, she had been smart by running away. He couldn't find her, and he let his frustrations come out in tears as the arithmetic assignment he was doing earlier began to look more pleasing than this humiliating play session had. There was always tomorrow, after all.

"I will get my revenge later!" Frieza proclaimed with his fist held high.

When a shadow fell over his small form, the proud expression dropped from his face as his pupils became pinpoints. A large pale purple hand reached down, picked him up by the cape and carried him back inside.

__

Aw man!

"Frieza, how many times must I tell you that an education is important if you want to become a successful ruler?" King Kold sighed as he dragged his pouting child into the castle, through the corridor and up the escalator-like staircase. He plunked him down on the little desk he was working at before and peered down at his tiny frame.

"But papa!" Frieza protested, "I want to learn how to _fight_, to be strong like you!"

Kold smirked and crossed his arms as he stood over the boy. It filled him with pride to hear Frieza say such things around him, but first things first. "When you're a little older. Right now, we need to train that brain of yours. What good will fighting do when you can't calculate the number of enemies that are coming, or don't see right away? How are you going to guess at maximum power levels without some arithmetic skills?"

Frieza's little black lower lip stuck out as he crossed his arms even further and huffed. He glared at his father, made a huge show of picking up the little crystalline digital pen and angrily calculated the annoying math problem he couldn't seem to get before, all the while wearing his comical angry puppy-face.

"Try carrying the two." Kold remarked as he turned to leave. As soon as his back was turned, Frieza pulled his lower eyelid down and stuck his tongue out. The large Icejin turned to say something else, and the smaller one pretended to be innocently working away, "Oh, make sure you go to bed early tonight and get plenty of sleep. There's going to be a party tomorrow night and ambassadors from many other planets will be visiting. Some have yet to meet you."

"Blah, blah, blah." Frieza grumbled as he finished the problem and lit up, only to find the next one was even harder. "Those parties are so dumb, papa! There is never anything to do!"  
  
"It won't be when you get older."

Frieza slammed his pen down and flipped his tail indignantly, tempting fate by continuing the discussion further. "Everything will happen when I get _older_! Older this, older that! When you're older this and when you're older that! Isn't there anything I can do right NOW!?"

"Yes." The Icejin King pleasantly brought his fingertips together in front of him and smiled, dripping sweetness into his voice, "You can do your homework." With that, he turned and stepped out of the room, chuckling to himself.

Frieza stuck his tongue out at the closing door "Bah!"

Then he got to thinking…if Wynter was going to be working at the party, then he would have the perfect means to publicly humiliate her. A devilish grin spread across the youth's face at the idea, and he giggled in delight as he started to form a plan.

__

To be continued...


	3. Revenge, Friendship and Kiss

_wynter3

The Tragic Tyrant  
Chapter 3  
Revenge, Friendship and a Kiss

Cooler rested his chin on his palm and sighed, watching all the various ambassadors as they sat around the large royal dinner table. 

There was the ugly pink insect-like Arlian with the huge black eyes and that disgusting-sounding gurgle of a voice. She was that hideous princess Lemlia. She had been described as beautiful by her kind, but Cooler couldn't make out any beauty in her at all.

Even stranger was the small, pretty lady with the pale blue-green skin and gem-adorned dark green hair that nearly reached to the floor. She was dressed in an almost translucent white robe with billowing sleeves and a very high neckline. There was a newborn child in her arms, a wrinkled little shape swathed in material similar to her dress. The child's head, which had a lock of dark green hair growing from the top, was adorned by a white circlet accented with a single purple bauble. The child and the woman were known as Saikajins. The lovely Priestess Meron and her newborn baby.

Then there was that fat pink thing with ridged purple lips…ugh, he was just as hideous as the Arlian. Dorian the of the Gomujins…he reminded Cooler of a very strange fish. He kept going on and on about his baby brother Dodoria, but few people even pretended to pay attention.

At the other end of the table was a young man who looked almost as good as the Saikajin, though he had skin of a more peach tone. A tall flame of black hair rose off the top of his head, and stubble around his mouth marked where a goatee was starting to grow. Vegeta, of the Saiyajins. He was dressed in armor similar to what most of the Icejins were wearing, though it was white with a red symbol on one of the breastplates.

Cooler's eyes finally wandered to his little brother, who looked like he was about to fall asleep in his chair while he shoved food into his black-lipped mouth. _Poor Frieza…if boredom could kill, he'd definitely be dead…_

Frieza spied his older brother staring and opened his mouth wide to show off the disgustingly half-chewed purple meat he was nibbling on. Cooler grinned and opened his mouth to show off the nasty wad of white fruit he was chewing, which caused his younger sibling to giggle and whip his leg with his tail. They promptly started eating again when Kold shot them a warning glare.

Not even the most frightening glares in the world could stop the two siblings from trying to gross each other out by performing their food-showing display at dinner time. Even if it meant doing it behind their father's back at a major ambassadorial meeting.

Frieza was keeping his eye on the door to the kitchen where people were coming and going. Dinner was just about finished, so he dabbed his mouth with his napkin, pretended to drop his spoon and used his tail to flick it across the floor. The spoon came to a stop right in the middle of the small ramp under the kitchen door. All he had to do now was wait.

"Priestess Meron, may I ask who the baby is?" King Kold asked over his goblet of wine, which he was sipping contentedly with half-closed eyes.

The Saikajin looked up and smiled a radiant smile, "He's my son…I unexpectedly gave birth to him a day before I arrived here. His name is Zarbon."

Kold smirked and raised his glass in genuine adulation, "Many congratulations! I commend you for having a child as lovely as you."

Meron lowered her head shyly, but continued to smile as Zarbon clung to her delicate clothing with tiny wrinkled fingers. Just by looking at his features, one could tell he was going to grow up looking like his mother.

"Well, I think we should get dessert started…" Cooler muttered as he pushed his empty plate away. Frieza nodded vigorously in agreement and pushed his plate away as well, then stole a glance at the spoon on the ramp while nobody was looking.

Everyone else at the table pushed their plates away and patted their mouths or sipped their drink to indicate they were finished.

"Very well, then." King Kold turned his head and clapped his beefy hands twice. "Bring in the dessert!"

Slowly, very slowly, a huge white quadruple-teared cake seemed to emerge from the tall doorway, wobbling unsteadily as Wynter carried it. She started down the ramp with careful steps, her three-toed feet making no sound as she walked. With such tall cargo in her arms, the Icejin girl didn't see the spoon on the ramp, and her foot came down squarely upon it. As soon as her weight shifted, the spoon caused her foot to slide backwards. She toppled face-first into the cake, which splattered everywhere from the impact, and she slid the rest of the way down the ramp. The rest of the cake came down on top of her after the bottom two tears were destroyed, and the poor girl was coated from head to toe in icing, frosting and crumbs.

Everyone stared at Wynter in shock, but Frieza had to do everything he could to prevent himself from bursting into helpless laughter.

Wynter got to her feet and stood, looking mortified as everyone began to laugh at her unfortunate mishap. The jeering laughter tore into her spirit like a million knives, and she raced from the room in tears while the laughter continued. Frieza was totally beside himself as she passed, pounding the table with his small fist during his mirth.

Wynter cried silently as she finished wiping the last of the frosting off of her body and curled up on the small leather-covered mattress she slept on. She knew who was behind this, and she knew this was the price to pay for teasing the prince, but he had asked for it before! And she was only trying to have some fun!

The girl's personal room was very small with one tiny round window, a dresser, a basin to wash off at and a bed to sleep in. It wasn't much, but she made the best of it by adhering artificial flowers to the walls. They reminded her of the garden, her favorite place.

"So, how does it feel to have people laughing at you?" A voice cut into her thoughts.

Raising her head, Wynter found herself staring into the face of Frieza as he rudely walked into her quarters. She didn't say anything to him in return, offering him a glare and nothing more.

"I know you can talk, so don't play this game with me." He crossed his arms importantly and tipped his head back, which caused light to dance across his carapace and horns. "Come on, I know you're mad at me." His little black lips pulled up into a smirk.

Wynter sneered with her back still to him and continued trying to ignore him. Why had he come in here? To make things worse? To kill her? To have her taken away? So many frightening thoughts…

"How dare you ignore me…"

Wynter winced inwardly and closed her eyes, concentrating single-mindedly on the uncooperative muscles of her lips and tongue, "G-g-g-go awuh-wuh-wuh…" she sighed and gave up, trying something else, "J-j-just l-leav-v-ve!"

"And what if I don't? I think I like listening to your stuh-stuh-stuttering." Frieza grinned, seeming to enjoy rubbing it in. "There is therapy for that sort of thing, you know. Did you get some and it wouldn't work because you're such a fool?"

The girl growled and flipped her tail indignantly, but kept her back to the jeering eyes that bore into the back of her head. Already, she was self-conscious about her stuttering, but that little brat had to come and make it worse! She stayed silent and took the teasing, as if the silence were a wall that kept his cruel words from hitting her.

"Humph." Frieza grunted.

Wynter finally exploded, whirling around to face Frieza with an accusing finger pointed right in his face. "I s-s-sav-v-ve y-your l-life and-d th-th-this is h-how y-you re-re-rep-p-pay m-me?"

The boy blinked and stared at her, having obviously not been told what really happened, "What are you talking about?"

She smirked and her violet lips parted as she started to speak again, "I w-was t-the one th-th-that h-h-healed y-you in th-th-the m-medic-c-cal b-b-b-b-bay..."

Frieza blinked, looking visibly shocked. He stared at Wynter for the longest time with confusion brewing in his red eyes. Had that angel floating above his head been her? Were those the glowing green eyes he had awakened to? Why had she suddenly bolted when the technicians came running in?

"I guess we're even." The Icejin boy said quickly. Without another word, he turned around and left with his cape billowing behind him. 

Wynter stared at his retreating back with equal confusion. _What is the deal with him? Why wasn't he told the truth?_

The questions could wait.

Wynter pulled the soft leather blanket down and climbed into bed. It wasn't very warm, but she closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was lying under lavish sheets of velvet and satin. Her imagination was enough to warm her, and she drifted off to sleep very quickly.

Frieza looked pretty blank when he re-appeared in the main room where the party was. Priestess Meron was sitting off to the side with little Zarbon in her arms, rocking him back and forth while watching the others dance or socialize. He noticed the baby had his mouth on her chest and blinked.

"Why is he doing that?" The little Icejin asked without bowing or remembering to show any sort of respect.

Meron ignored the forgotten gesture and smiled while her child nursed, "He's eating."

"From your boobie?!" He looked shocked.

The Saikajin flashed her radiant smile and nodded, "You'll learn more about it when you get older, Prince Frieza."

Zarbon stopped nursing and hiccuped once. He yawned, splaying out those impossibly tiny fingers for a moment before his little hands clasped back into fists. Meron leaned down and kissed the baby's forehead with a tenderness like Frieza had never seen.  
  
_Why don't I have a mommy to kiss me like that?_  
  
"If you will excuse me. I must place him in his bed for the night." The Priestess slowly rose to her feet, and the skirts of her translucent robe flowed as if alive. She was the prettiest woman the young Icejin had ever seen, and she wasn't even from the same race!

"Of course. Good night." Frieza bowed quickly, glanced at the rest of the party, then turned and headed into his room.

Knowing he was safe there, he let his jealousy out on the unfortunate pillow that happened to be lying on top on his bed. His fists beat into the cloth object with such force that it started to rip apart and send pillow-stuffing around the room, but he didn't care, nor did he allow his sobs to make any sound.

White pillow-filling rained down around Frieza like snow, settling over him as he cried himself to sleep for reasons he wasn't sure he understood. In his dreams, he saw the woman who was standing in the light he'd seen when he nearly died. Who was she? Why had she called him her little love?

__

...mama?

Questions with no answers continued to plague his mind as he slept.

****

Five years later

"Hey, Frieza! Did you forget to take your medication again? You're brooding!" Cooler taunted, giving his younger brother a light nudge as he passed him in the corridor. He didn't like to get too serious about things, but then again, Frieza seemed to make things that way.

"I'm not in the mood." The teenager known as Frieza groaned, reaching over to tap the button on a blue access panel that opened the door to his quarters. There was a jagged scar running across the underside of his wrist, appearing fresh despite being a year old. Another scar just like it adorned the side of his neck below his jaw, not easily visible unless someone looked closely. "Just go away…" He was bruised and battered with one eye swollen completely shut, side-effects of training hard all day, and his father hadn't even mentioned anything about his improving the power of his ki blasts! 

__

"You're so slow! Exercise more and lose some weight to make yourself more agile!" _"Come on, Cooler can do this, so why can't you?"_ Was all that Kold had said. Insults, that's all there were.  
  
"Manic-depressives…" The older Icejin muttered as he turned on his heels and headed into his quarters, "I've got one last thing to pack and then I'm out. Say bye to father for me!"

Frieza's armor plates scintillated when he shook his head dismissively and disappeared into his quarters. He walked to the little cooling unit and took out various foods in different colors and shapes. It was enough food to feed three adult Icejins, but he ate every bite himself. He stuffed his face as if it had been months since his last decent meal, and tears started pouring down his face when he realized he couldn't stop himself from this vicious cycle.

Blast it all…nobody seemed to understand, not even Frieza himself. As he shoved food into his mouth, he wondered if he would ever please his father, who would set an even bigger obstacle in front of the one he just overcame without even showing a smile of congratulations. The only things ever really pointed out and blown out of proportion were mistakes…so many mistakes.

Upon finishing his strange meal, Frieza calmly strolled from his quarters and locked himself into the waste-disposal room. Then he promptly stuck his finger down his throat, and his red eyes bulged out of his head for a few seconds before he doubled over to throw up into the toilet.

Wynter, who was pushing a cart full of armor that needed to be cleaned, was walking by the room where Frieza was when she heard him retching. She looked much different than she had five years before; adolescence was setting in and changing the shape of her body. Her breasts were beginning to grow and her hips were just starting to fill out.  
  
"Prince F-Frieza?" She stammered, touching the comlink beside the door. Her stuttering had lessened greatly with age, but certain sounds were still difficult for her to pronounce. She had also started speaking more, but it still seemed that Frieza was the only person she would speak around. "Are y-y-you all r-right in there?"

More retching, then, "I'm fine! Leave me alone!"

Despite his angry reply, Wynter stayed. She watched Frieza come out of the waste-disposal room with the scent of fresh vomit floating around him. He gave her a glare that could melt bricks before heading into his quarters.

Ever since Wynter had revealed that she had been the one to heal Frieza so many years ago, he had ceased his incessant teasing. Though the teasing had stopped, the rudeness hadn't, but she didn't hold it against him; he was a prince, and princes always treated servants like lower life-forms.

Besides, she was starting to think the young prince was pretty, even though he was a boy. She wouldn't openly admit it to herself, liking to call it a deep dark secret.

__

Once a week for the past year, he's been throwing up…Wynter thought to herself, her nose wrinkling at the awful smell of the place. _He looks so skinny now, too…_

Finishing up in the waste-disposal unit, the small Icejin girl stepped back out into the corridor and continued pushing the cart towards the cleaning area. The technician in charge of cleaning it took over from there, so she turned gracefully on her heels and headed right back towards Frieza's quarters.

Frieza was cleaning his flawless teeth of the stomach acid and bad-smelling bacteria when the chimes to his quarters sounded in that little do-re-me tone. His fist closed when he turned his head to the door and barked, "What!?" When there was no reply on the com, he rose to his feet and punched in the access code that unlocked the door, "What do you-"

Wynter's presence promptly stopped the teenage boy before he could finish his sentence. She was standing with her arms crossed and one ankle crossed over the other, offering only a quick bow before concentrating on speaking, "W-why do y-you keep throwing up-p-p?" Then she tapped three of her toes like fingers and waited for his reply.

Gasping a little, Frieza crossed his arms, turned his back to her and growled, denying it openly, "I haven't been throwing up!"

"I could smell the v-vomit w-when you left." She retorted with a flick of her tail, "It w-was on you as w-well as in the r-room."

Frieza didn't say anything. Someone had finally discovered his secret, and nothing he did would cover up the obvious. Besides, what could a lowly servant do about it? He smirked at the notion and turned to face the girl, whipping his cape over his shoulder importantly. "So what if I am? Why do you care?"

"B-because you're killing yourself in doing w-what you're doing." Her blue-green scalp armor glittered a little when she tilted her head to peer right into his face, "As a servant, it is my duty to ensure you are w-well. N-need I mention the times I've seen you dump whole p-p-plates f-full of f-food out the w-window?"

The prince narrowed his eyes at the servant, looking at her like she was a piece of manure he'd scrape off the bottom of his middle toe. His eyes widened when Wynter reached over, grasped his hand and held it up in his face so he could see the abrasion on the knuckle of his index finger where his teeth would scrape his skin whenever he made himself throw up.

"Do you even car-r-re that you're hurting yourself?"  
  
Frieza tore his hand from her grasp and cradled it as if she had slashed it open. "My father is never satisfied with me. I give him my best and he still wants _more_! I can't give any more!" He surprised her by suddenly bursting into tears, turning his back to her as he moved to curl up on his bed.

Wynter blinked a few times, unsure if she should walk closer and comfort him or leave and let him be alone. She decided to tempt fate and walked forward, extending a small white hand until her palm was resting flat on his back between his shoulderblades. He recoiled a little from her touch and didn't move again when she replaced her hand.  
  
The cold metal armor under the lavish velvet cloak had little give to it, but Wynter could feel Frieza's back heave each time he sobbed. He was keeping his face well-hidden from her as his embarrassment for breaking down caused him to cry even more.

"My mother suffered f-from b-b-bulemia, and sh-sh-sh-" She struggled with the word for several seconds, "-she ruptured her stomach and b-bled to death internally. It took-k her three days t-to die, and it w-was a p-p-painf-ful, b-bloody death..." The girl closed her eyes and turned her head without taking her hand away from Frieza's back. She could still see images of her mother, whom she resembled very much, curled up in bed with blood staining the sheets.

"You mean I'm not the only one?" Frieza asked stupidly without turning to face her. He bit his ebony lip as more tears escaped his eyes to roll down his pale face, tears of jealousy. Everyone seemed to have or have had a mother except for him.

"Of c-course not. A lot of p-p-people have their own p-problems." Said Wynter as she absently started smoothing the wrinkles out of his cloak and pushing it across the curve of his back. Her hand moved towards his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, though the armor got in the way again.

Frieza closed his eyes as his sobs began to weaken, and the presence of Wynter's delicate hand on his shoulder made him wonder if this was what it was like to have a mother.

Seeing his pain reminded Wynter of her own, the way her mother would get drunk and say hurtful things about her stuttering. That was the reason she chose not to speak to anyone but a select few(or one).

The only way for her to get over her own pain, it seemed, was to help him ease his own. But how? What could she do to keep him from hurting himself further? How could she ensure he ate every meal without fasting, binging and purging?

"Shit." Frieza's voice, as well as the nasty word he chose to use, cut into Wynter's thoughts and jolted her to awareness. She rose above her mind to find Frieza sitting on the edge of his bed with an annoyed expression. "My papa's coming, and he's angry! I didn't go to my training…oh shit!"

"What are y-y-you going to do?"

He grabbed her arm and hauled her to the window. "_We_ are going to get out of here." With those words, he dove out the window with her in tow and hoped she could fly. She could, fortunately, and they both glided up to the roof of the palace just in time to escape Kold's notice.

Immediately upon landing, Frieza released his tight grip on Wynter's arm and stood on the edge of the roof with his arms crossed; he looked so gaunt, and the Icejin girl thought it was a wonder that nobody seemed to pay much attention to it.   
  
King Kold's angry yells could be heard for miles around, but the young prince just snickered to himself about it. Some of the things he was saying began to make Wynter giggle, and Frieza found himself joining in.

When they had calmed down, Frieza lowered his head and stared at the ground, not knowing what else to say. Wynter respected his silence by walking to the edge of the roof so she could stare out into the distance. The horizon was a barren black and gray color with occasional stars or silver clouds here and there.

Frieza stared at nothing in particular as he started to brood again about his morning training, which also caused him to remember the pain from his bruises and swollen eye. _One of these days, papa…I swear I'll kill you! Maybe then you'll be satisfied with me! Then I'll - _

The young prince was shaken from his thoughts by Wynter's delicate hand taking hold of his. He turned his head to find her still staring ahead at the horizon, and he found himself looking her up and down while she wasn't looking. She was kind of pretty with those large green eyes…and her body was starting to take on a shape like Priestess Meron's had been…

__

Wait a minute! What the heck am I thinking!? Frieza shook his head as if to shake the very thoughts out of his head, _She's just a servant! Nothing more than a lowly female with a low fighting power!_

"P-Prince Frieza? Are y-you all r-right?" Wynter giggled, pointing to his face, "Y-you're b-blushing!"  
  
Frieza felt the hotness in his cheeks and promptly sweatdropped, pulling his hand out of her grasp, "I am NOT!" He proclaimed as the redness spread across the bridge of his nose and cheekbones.

She just grinned, flipped her tail once and perched on the side of the roof with her long legs dangling down. Patting the spot beside her, she said, "C-come j-join me."

__

It can't hurt anything. Frieza thought to himself, _Wait a minute here! I'm the Icejin Prince, why am I afraid of a girl!?_ He flipped his cape proudly over his shoulder, pranced to the edge of the rooftop and seated himself with his arms crossed. _It's a good thing I'm over my fear of cooties…_

"S-so…" Wynter began slowly in attempt to get a conversation started, "W-what's it l-like to sleep under a v-velv-vet b-blanket?"

Frieza blinked at the odd question, "It's…eh…warm, I guess." He winced when Wynter reached over and touched his swollen black eye, hissing his protest between clenched teeth. "That hurts!"

"B-be still-l and it w-will-l hurt l-l-less!" She snapped, then bit her lower lip when she remembered this was a prince she was referring to, and not another servant. "Sorry…j-j-just b-be still-l."

Annoyed, Frieza rolled his eyes and sat as still as he could while Wynter's eyes became far-away in concentration. He watched her go into something resembling a hypnotic trance, swirls of pale blue seeming to move through her emerald eyes. This strange blue swirl grew to become a pale blue outline around her body. It collected in her fingertips and began to flow across the area where she was touching his bruised eye. Frieza felt her hand become scalding hot against his skin, the heat drowning out the pain of his injury, and the swelling began to go down rapidly. As the swelling went down, he felt a relaxing warmth spread through his body.

Wynter took her hand away from his face and continued to stare as the trance lasted a few seconds longer. She finally shook it off and heaved in a deep breath; healing often took a lot out of her because she utilized her own life-force to do it. Using this same technique to heal Frieza's illness five years ago had nearly killed her.

Frieza reached up and touched his eye where the bruise had been, then blinked and turned his head to stare at Wynter in shock. He remembered feeling that same relaxing sensation when he was waking up in the medical bay so long ago. _It is true…!!!_

"Do you f-feel b-b-better-r?" She asked, her blue-green carapace scintillating a little when she tilted her head.

"I…yeah." He replied blankly before remembering to act like a prince. Hardening his expression, the young Icejin crossed his arms and sat up straight with his chest puffed out slightly. "Tell me something, Wynter. Why do you bother being kind to me when I treat you like dirt?"

Smiling with her tail swishing gently from side to side, the girl parted her violet lips and replied, "I w-w-was taught to treat others the w-w-way I w-want to be treated, regardless of how they treat me."

"Does that include shoving a bucket over my head?"

Wynter promptly blushed, but Frieza started to laugh. She laughed with him this time, then turned around and asked, "Have you ever b-been k-kissed b-before?"

"Of course! My father used to kiss my cheek when I was a baby!"

Wynter covered her mouth and giggled, "That d-doesn't c-count."

He promptly felt his cheeks grow hot and turned his head, causing light to play off his black horns and purple armor, "No."

"Me either. Why don't we try, j-just to see wuh-wuh-what the b-big deal is?" She felt herself blush, "W-want to?"

Frieza growled under his breath, then sighed. What did he have to lose? It couldn't hurt to try it out just once. Then, at least, he could brag to Cooler about it later. "OK, fine."

"OK, then on three." Wynter faced him fully and took a deep breath. "One…" she leaned a little closer.

Frieza tensed, knowing everything was going to change in just a few seconds. He was about to show he trusted this girl, and he had never trusted another person in his life. It made him a little nervous at first, but another realization began to over-ride the nervousness: he had finally found a person he could tell all his secrets to, talk to and just sit with whenever he was lonely.

For the first time in his life, he had a true friend.

"T-two…" She was face to face with him, so much that he could feel her breath.

He blinked, heart pounding and muscles tensing. A bead of glittering sweat trickled off the side of his face and pooled under his chin.

"Th-three!" She closed her eyes, puckered her lips and leaned her face into his.

Frieza puckered his lips at the last second and squeezed his eyes shut. Wynter's violet lips came into contact with his black ones for about half a second, just enough to make a loud lip-smacking noise. Then they both jumped apart as if something had burned them. Both eyed each other warily as they wiped the backs of their hands across their mouths to clean away the forbidden act. 

Neither of them knew exactly what to feel, but both could feel their own hearts pounding a little quicker than usual.

Finally, still tasting her sweetness on his lips, Frieza piped up, "Say something, it's too quiet!"

"Um-m-m…uh…" Wynter twirled the end of her tail around her pale fingers, which had a few calluses from so much use. She was blushing madly from the bottom of her armor plate to the tip of her chin. There was no way her brain could make sense of this situation in enough time to come up with something intelligent to say!

"Just…grrr…hurry…" He growled, growing uncomfortable by the strange silence.

Wynter finally came up with something and placed her fist on her chest as she began to speak, "I p-pledge my loyalt-ty t-to the R-r-ruler of the Icej-j-jins…"  
  
Frieza grinned, placed his fist against his chest and joined in, saying along with her, "…and to the laws by which he rules. Our people, our world, indivisible with the power to conquer all."

They stayed as they were for several seconds, looking at each other in the silly pose of allegiance before allowing the laughter to finally take over.

__

Maybe Wynter isn't so bad after all… Frieza thought during his mirth.

__

He's a brat, but he's not all that terrible… Wynter told herself as she laughed. _I wish he would be like this more often…_

"Better not tell anyone," Frieza grinned.

Wynter smiled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "You b-better not either."

"You swear?" He held his tail out to her and curled the tip into the shape of a hook. "Swear on my tail that you will never tell."

She giggled, looped her tail around the curve in his and shook it once, "I swear on the t-tail of Prince F-Frieza that I will never t-tell a soul that I k-k-kissed him."

"I swear on the tail of Wynter that I will never tell a soul that I kissed her." He repeated, switching the names.

For a moment or two, they looked at each other while the tips of their tails were twined together. Their eyes glittered, twin smiles bloomed, and their friendship was sealed from that moment on.

__

To be continued...


	4. Innocence Dies Twice

_wynter4

Warnings: Slight sexual content in this chapter(hints of rape and other stuff) and violence.

The Tragic Tyrant  
Chapter 4  
Innocence Dies Twice

Walls of pure clear crystal resembling jagged columns growing from a cave floor glittered dully in the dim light. Smooth and polished to the point of mirror-like reflection, the black marble floor was awash with white lightning patterns. Nearly mirroring the floor, the ceiling bore elaborate cabochon chandeliers in various colors, though white seemed dominant above all. A large throne of miniaturized columns like those cut in the walls was repeatedly lost behind a large swift-moving shadow. The shadow's movements were punctuated by the shuffling of feet.

King Kold's cape rustled while he paced to and fro in his darkened throne room. His tail swished about like a whip as he became more furious with his youngest child's behavior. He had called Frieza over a dozen times, and the elusive teenager had yet to show up!  
  
"He's probably left the castle," Cooler spoke hopefully, doing anything he could to avoid his father's wrath any further. He knew his father only paced like this when he was very angry. "I mean, you know how he is. He was probably out messing around and he'll be back any second now..."  
  
As if on cue the chamber doors slid open and Frieza meandered in with a little smirk pulling at his black lips. It was quickly backhanded off by a large lavender hand with long black nails. The youth recoiled from the hard slap and looked up in wide-eyed shock as a red-violet tear escaped from the slice in his cheek.

"ARE YOU DEAF!?!?" The large Icejin roared in a voice so loud that Cooler covered his ears. Frieza shrank back as if the voice alone had slapped him a second time, and the bellowing continued, "I have been CALLING for you and CALLING for you!! Where have you been!? And WHY didn't you show up for your afternoon training session?"

"I-I didn't hear you calling me, Papa! I was out training on my own where nothing could distract me," Frieza lied meekly, keeping his head down and trying to ignore the tingling-hot sting spreading across his delicate cheekbone. He was afraid to look up and receive another devastating blow to his tired body, and he could feel the heat of his father's hot-poker eyes boring down upon the top of his armored skull.

Kold's tail cracked like a whip and slammed into the floor, making a small crevice in the flawless marble. He knew Frieza was hiding something from him, because the boy would always look him in the eye when they had their little confrontations. That only served to anger him further. He reached down, placed a massive hand under the young Icejin's chin and forced him to look up. The black eye he had given him earlier was gone, and he knew only one person could cure such an injury that quickly.

"You were with Wynter, you little liar!" He moved his hand away from the boy's chin and slapped him even harder than he had last time, sending him skidding across the smooth floor.

"Gaahhhck!" Frieza sputtered as the friction of sliding across the floor burned his skin and caused his cape to tangle around his body. He felt his father's massive foot pin him down and began to tremble in fear as tears ran out of his eyes, stinging the now-gushing wound on his cheek. "Papa! You're hurting me!" The little Icejin cried as his ribs were bent out of proportion by a foot almost one-third the size of his torso. He felt like his lungs were going to explode!

"You should be able to defend yourself against me, you little weakling!" He growled, "The next time you skip your training session, I will ensure the beating is five-hundred times worse than this!" The massive alien lifted his foot away from his son's ribs and turned his back to him, "Sometimes, you're really a disappointment to me, Frieza. Perhaps having two sons was a good idea after all." He sneered and glanced at Cooler to indicate what he meant, "Now leave while I deal with Wynter."

"Yes, Papa." Frieza's voice cracked as he painfully dragged himself to his feet and clutched his bruised ribs. He limped out silently, making slow progress to his quarters without offering so much as a glance to Wynter, who was waiting in the hall. The urge to pig out and puke hung heavily over his mind, but moving was too painful, and the mechanics of throwing up would only make his injuries worse. 

"P-prince F-Frieza?" Wynter's green eyes glittered with unfallen tears. Even though Frieza was too far away to reach, she still extended her small white hand towards him.

The teenager paused and looked over his shoulder at the female. His tail undulated and his tear-filled eyes burned furiously. "This is all your fault." He wheezed. It was a lie, he knew, but he needed someone to blame. Someone to be angry with other than himself.

Meekly, Wynter dropped her turquoise head and sniffled as she walked closer, knelt down and carefully pressed one of his small white hands to her forehead. She knew her healing him had given away where he'd gone and who he was with. "I'm sorry, P-prince F-Frieza. P-please f-forg-give me."

Frieza responded by yanking his hand from her grasp and rudely spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor in front of her. Then he turned and wordlessly entered his quarters. Wynter closed her eyes and uncurled from her kneeling position. Her gaze remained downcast as she returned to her previous location beside the throne-room door.

Meanwhile, King Kold had angrily taken a seat in his throne and was in the process of drumming his beefy fingers on the arm-rest. He settled his chin on his palm and fixed his ruby-red eyes on the lean form of Cooler, who was staring at the floor while the tip of his purple tail flicked at a crawling insect.

"You don't have to stay here, Cooler. Aren't you supposed to be catching a transport?"  
  
"It's delayed because of a fuel leak, and it won't be here until tomorrow morning." He sighed and looked up sorrowfully, changing the subject, "Father…you never treated me the way you treat Frieza. Why do you treat him so badly? You know mother wouldn't have wanted that, so why do you do it?"

Kold's leathery lips parted, "Your little brother will be sitting in this throne someday, Cooler. He's headstrong like your mother was, that's for sure. But this skipping out on training to hang around with a female, especially a _slave_, will not be tolerated in my castle! Not when he is going to assume a dignified position like this when I am gone."

Cooler sneered at his father and muttered, "You're just trying to avoid things that remind you of mother…"

"WHAT!?"

"You heard me!" The young purple Ice-jin growled as he turned towards the door and began to walk out. 

Something white and hotter than a planet's core shot across the room. Cooler rounded on Kold, his eyes like dinner plates and his armor plate flashing. He didn't even have a chance to scream when the blast painfully engulfed his form and threw him into one of the columns beside the door. Smoke rose from his skin as he slumped to the floor and gasped to regain the breath knocked from his lungs.

"Unh..." He trembled as he got to his feet and stared at his father through one half-open eye, surprised that he would ever use a blast on his own kids. Such a thing was un-heard of, and illegal, even for a king!

King Kold glared at his eldest son, his hand still glowing from the blast he'd thrown, "Know your place, boy! What I choose to remember and forget is _my_ business!"

Cooler said nothing more, allowing a silence to settle until it was so thick a person could almost see it. The blast hadn't just hurt his body, it had hurt his feelings and spirit as well. He shot his father a poisonous glare before limping out of the room with wisps of smoke still rising from his slightly burned flesh.

Kold ignored his son's angry exit. He was too furious at Frieza for skipping out on his valuable training to really care what he thought. The boy was already far behind his older brother when they should have both been equal in fighting power and potency!

He sighed to briefly dismiss the subject from further concern and lifted his voice, speaking not-so-gently, "Wynter, I know you are out there, so get in here."

The doors slid open and Wynter's petite white form stepped in without a sound. She approached the throne slowly and lowered respectfully to her knees. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes remained fixed upon her reflection on the polished ground. She found that if she lifted her eyes just enough she could see King Kold's angry face reflected on the smooth marble.

"I am extremely disgusted by your behavior, Wynter. You should know better than to distract Frieza from his training!" King Kold's voice rose in volume with each angry word spat from his lips. "Just what were you doing with him while you two were out playing like a couple of idiots?" He turned his head and snorted before the girl could reply. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

Wynter kept her eyes on Kold's reflection and felt her heart lurch when he got to his feet. She soon found herself face to face with toes as big around as her arm. The slight lurch in her heart became a complete palpitation that made a cold sweat break out all over her clammy skin. It was hard to swallow, hard to think and hard to breathe. "P-p-please f-f-forgive me, Ssssire..." She sobbed. Her stuttering seemed worse because of her fear.

The large Icejin King smirked to himself and crossed his arms. He took pleasure in the young girl's fear of him and enjoyed the sight of her cowering at his feet, exactly where all slaves belonged. "So, the little mute speaks at last...such a pity that a lovely little voice like yours has to be marred by an impediment."

A gasp caught in Wynter's throat and her eyes closed as the metallic purple tip of Kold's tail came around to stop inches from her face.

"Stand up."

Wynter got to her feet without question, keeping her eyes to the floor. She felt his cool armored tail slip up under her chin and force her head back until she was gazing up at the mighty King's malicious face. The cruel gleam in his eyes and the smirk tilting his black mouth upwards frightened her to such a degree that she had to gulp in order to avoid throwing up.

"You are aware, of course, that you must be punished for your poor behavior." King Kold watched tears escape Wynter's green eyes and ran his tongue along the back-side of his perfect teeth. He used his tail like a bludgeon to send her reeling towards the armored doors on the other end of the room, "And I think I'll give you that punishment right now..."

There was a sickening thud as Wynter's body collided with the metal doors and slid down into a sitting position. Small torrents of purple blood ran freely from between her grimacing lips to stain the pale flesh underneath. A few droplets ran down her throat and caused her to gag violently.

Kold's shadow fell over her small form while she trembled in terror. The image of a man grinning malevolently with cruel intentions flashing through his ruby glare was reflected clearly in her wide green eyes. Then came the low hiss of his icy voice, "Now, this will only hurt more if you struggle..."

Wynter didn't know what he was talking about until she felt his hands on her. "N-n-no! P-p-please!" She shrieked and scooted as far away from him as she could. The distance was only a few inches, as the door effectively blocked her escape.

"Shut up!" The large Ice-jin backhanded the smaller one across the face to cut off her squeals. Then he locked his hand around her throat and lowered to his knees above her. "Now...just be still, little Wynter..."

"N-n-no...d-d-don't!!!" Tears poured like waterfalls down Wynter's cheeks, and she struggled hopelessly under Kold's immobile grasp. Another stinging slap burned her cheek. Then she found herself pinned to the floor by his massive frame. She whimpered and tried to squirm away, only to be stopped by hands wrapping tightly around her wrists. 

"This will teach you who your master is!" Kold smirked and moved forward, ripping the girl's innocence away forever.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Wynter's scream of agony and dispair echoed through the halls.

"Ahhh..." Frieza collapsed backwards onto his bed and panted in relief. For just a few seconds he had been able to drown all the pain of his wounds in pleasure. Too bad it didn't seem to last long enough. _If only papa knew what my nose picking had evolved into...he'd probably drop dead in shock._ He smirked at the thought. Pain from the scrape on his cheek quickly erased the smirk and reminded him of the beating he received. _I can't take this anymore! If I can't satisfy him, I'll just have to leave...I'll take Wynter with me too. That is...if she can forgive me. I guess I'll just talk to her as soon as I've rested my eyes._

Within moments of closing his eyes, Frieza fell fast into a deep slumber.

In his dreams he found himself standing in a vaguely familiar pink tunnel that swirled intermittently with color. He was running towards a light at the other end. His body armor and carapace flashed and gave off a brilliant sheen. The glow in the distance brightened as he came closer. A tall female figure with purple skin appeared in the glare, and in her hand was a leatherbound purple book with crisp white pages.

Frieza saw the woman and quickened his pace. He knew, somehow, that the book she held contained the answers to questions he didn't even know he had to ask.

He was about ten feet from the light when his body slammed painlessly into an unseen wall. Next thing he knew, his back was to the light and he was staring into a vortex of blackness. The blackness itself oozed forward until it covered him from head to toe like a suffocating void. He couldn't scream, move or breathe, and it terrified him.

"Help me!" Frieza cried out at the figure in the light. "HELP ME!!!!"

The woman tossed the book straight up and stepped gracefully forward. Frieza heard the pages rustle and felt the woman's delicate hands grasp onto his shoulders. She started to shake him, gently at first, then harder. It jarred his wounds and forced another cry from his raw throat.

__

"Frieza..." Her sing-song voice whispered across his ears. Her lips didn't move when she spoke, as if her voice was coming from all around. _"Snap out of it, Frieza..."_

"HELP ME!!!

__

"Frieza..."

"Frieza!!!" The woman's finely-shaped jaw thickened and her voice deepened until her visage was completely replaced with Cooler's. The brilliant light all around gradually became biting sunlight streaming through the window. The oozing blackness morphed into a cape and velvet bedsheets.

Frieza stopped struggling and looked around blankly at the familiar surroundings of his own bedroom. His confused gaze moved back to his older brother's slightly bruised face as beads of sweat rolled off his brow and stung the wound on his cheek. "C-Cooler? But...the...the light, and the...dark...and - "

"You were having a nightmare, Frieza. I heard you screaming all the way down the hall and came running in thinking someone was killing you." The purple Icejin removed his hands from the smaller one's shoulders and straightened into a standing position. He winced as some of his bruises were disturbed and sent dull pains through his body. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"It seemed so real..." Frieza blinked and looked over at Cooler when he saw him wince, "Wait a minute! What happened to you?"

"Father." Cooler's blue armor plate flashed as he turned his head towards the window and sneered. "He blasted me something fierce when I mouthed off at him." He sighed a little and shook his head in disgust.

The beating from last night flashed across Frieza's memory like a ki blast. His eyes widened and his small mouth formed a perfect O.

"Wynter!" He jumped out of bed in a flurry of motion, shoved his shocked brother aside and bolted for the door. He dashed around the corner and sped down the smooth escalator-like staircase leading to the floor below. The repeated slapping sounds of his bare feet on the smooth marble floor echoed throughout the halls. His breath came in ragged gasps and the pumping muscle in his chest squeezed in tighter on itself. It felt like the corridor leading up to his father's throne room had gone from thirty feet to ten miles.

Frieza didn't know what to expect when he reached the metal doors. He was about to pry them open with his bare hands when they slid open by themselves. 

Wynter shuffled into the light with her arms wrapped around herself. Half of her face was swollen so badly her left eye was forced completely shut. The other eye was fixed on the floor and oozing tears. Purple bruises and wounds speckled her white skin. Blood was leaking from her mouth, nose and the apex of her thighs. The stench of stale semen hung in the air around her like an invisible cloak.

__

Oh no...what have I done? Frieza stared in dumbfounded shock at the beaten body before him. For a moment the only noise in the whole area was the blood leaking from Wynter's femaleness and hitting the floor. _What has HE done?_

Wynter felt the pain of her battered spirit and body returning all at once when she laid her eyes upon Frieza. She saw his gaunt hand reach forward and hugged herself tighter as she backed away from it. As far as she was concerned, he was there to hurt her too. 

"Wynter?" Frieza reached for her again when he saw her back away. She stepped away again and a metallic clang sounded from her body running into the closed doors behind her. Seeing her like that made him bite his lower lip fiercely and fight down the tears blurring his vision. 

__

What do I do? His carapace and horns flashed as he looked around for something to cover her with. A blanket, the curtains, anything...but there was nothing availiable other than his cape. The Icejin teenager grasped the edges of his magnificent cape and yanked until, with a loud tearing sound, it was ripped free of his shiny purple armor. He stepped cautiously forward and draped the cape around the female's armored shoulders, "Here..."

Alerted by the presence of soft silk against her stinging skin, Wynter snapped out of her reverie and looked down to find Frieza's careful hands wrapping a cloak around her body. All of her pain rushed to the surface so fast that she fell into him and collapsed to her knees at his feet. Her shoulders convulsed with the grief of her lost innocence and the pain wracking her battered body.

Before Frieza even realized what he was doing, he was lowering to his knees and placing his hand on her back the way she had done for him the previous day. His mind was at a loss for ideas on how to help her. _What do I do? I can't just leave her *here* like this, and I don't trust those people in the medical bay...and papa is expecting me to train with him any time now._ He looked down at Wynter to discover she had stopped crying and resolved herself to gazing blankly at the wall. _I guess I have no choice..._

Five minutes later, Frieza was carrying Wynter into his room and laying her carefully on the dishiveled bed. He didn't know what else to do with her, so he gathered up the scattered supplies of his personal medkit and left them on the edge of the bed. Hopefully, she would be able to clean up while he was gone.

"I have to go, or papa will come after us again. I'll come back shortly." He spoke from his doorway. It was clearly obvious he didn't understand she was wounded in more than just her body.

Wynter responded to his aloofness by turning onto her side and huddling up among the cloak and blankets. A balled-up piece of bandage rolled down the new incline in the softness and bumped against her back. She ignored it and closed her good eye as fresh tears began soaking into the pillow. 

Frieza turned silently and exited the room with a snap of his armor-tipped tail. He felt the rage coiling tight like a red-hot spring in the pit of his stomach. Pulsing black webs wound about his vision as the blood pumped harder behind his burning ruby eyes. His muscles were tense and tight, and his tail started to lash wildly. A grimace pulled his feminine lips away from his teeth. The flaring of his nostrils increased in speed and intensity. Adrenalin began to flow into his system, making him quicken his step.

__

Papa...you hurt my only friend over something that wasn't even her fault! I'm tired of you ripping away every new thing I learn to like! I'm tired of it and I won't stand for it one second longer! He smirked as he felt the power in his body rising higher than it had ever risen before, and his feet seemed to beat out a rhythm on the hard ground. "This time, I'll be victorious..."

__

King Kold's tall bull-like horns flashed in the vague outdoor sunlight beating down without warmth. The wind rustled his cape and tickled the tip of his nose as he watched Cooler's transport shoot over the horizon. The tinted red glass of his scouter flashed a few seconds. _Hmmm...my new right-hand man should be arriving shortly._ He smiled, _Those Saikajins are certainly something else!_ His gaze returned to the sky when dark clouds raced over to blanket the pale sun.

"On time for once, that's a first." Kold remarked without turning around. Behind him, a figure appeared in the shadows.

"Yes. Aren't you _proud_ of me?" Frieza's husky voice came across so cold it was a miracle his vocal cords didn't freeze. "No, of course not. I can never satisfy you now, can I?" A flash of lightning briefly illuminated his expressionless face and eyes.

The large Icejin, astonished to hear his youngest one speak to him in such a sarcastic way, turned towards the sound of the voice. His scouter beeped and zeroed in on Frieza as the numbers started to scroll up. A slight click sounded as the numbers went up to five hundred, thirty thousand, flickered slightly and continued up another thousand points to stop on five hundred, thirty-one thousand. "All right, Frieza..." A pang of nervousness entered his voice and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his pale lavender face. The boy's power level had never gone THAT high before! "You should settle down before we get started. Otherwise you won't think very clearly."

A point of light shot across Frieza's twin horns, eerily illuminating his pale face as he lifted his head and opened his eyes. His predatory gaze betrayed his emotionless mask. The heat in the pit of his stomach started to leak throughout his body in an almost pleasureful way, and he found himself smiling coldly as he spoke, "Thank you for your concern, _father_..." he rarely ever used that word, and he said it like it was a sour taste on his tongue, "...but I can assure you that my thinking is crystal clear."

V-shaped wrinkles appeared on Kold's nose as he sneered at Frieza's disrespectful tone of voice. He kept a wary eye on the fluctuating numbers flickering across the scouter's screen. "How dare you speak to me in that manner! I'm your father and I demand your respect, boy!"

Frieza's smile faded to a light smirk and his eyes narrowed as distant thunder rumbled to signify the brewing of a nasty storm. "What's the matter? Can't stand the taste of your own bitter medicine?" The point of light flickering on the tip of his horn spread out until his entire outline glowed with a faint white shimmer. A hot wind raced from every pore in his body while his power boiled.  
  
"You little bastard!" The large Icejin fumed and stomped towards the the glowing teenager whose head barely reached the bottom of his hip. "You're asking for it!" He swallowed his fear of the rising power as he loomed over the smaller Icejin like a mountain of muscle and bone.

Instead of backing away like he usually did, Frieza curled his lip and sneered daringly at his father's face. "Go right ahead and try it, asshole."

"ASSHOLE!? That's it, I'm going to beat you senseless!!!" King Kold's eyes flared as he brought his hand around and slapped Frieza with all his strength. The sound of the impact echoed off the castle wall and faded. Frieza's head snapped to the side as the stinging fingers left their mark on his cheekbone.

The King stared in shock as Frieza slowly turned to face him again without a hint of pain on his face. There was something different burning in the emotionless red eyes that flickered eerily when lightning flashed in the distance. Something deep inside his soul was awakening for the first time. Something as awesome as it was terrible.

"Grrr!" Kold, now very unnerved, raised his fist to bash the Frieza's face in. Anything to keep those chilling eyes from boring into his skull any longer.

Frieza lifted his tiny hand and stopped the fist in mid-motion by grasping onto the forearm. He took pleasure in the enraged expression on Kold's face, but he wanted to see something else; he wanted to see _fear._ The glow around his body steadily grew more intense, as if reacting to his boiling rage.

"Is that _all_ you've got?!" The young Icejin jeered as he held the older one's forearm tighter and began to squeeze.

"Grrr-aaaah! AAH!" Kold cried out when he felt Frieza's nails dig into his purple flesh. The delicate nails pressed down harder and broke through the skin like five razor sharp daggers. Droplets of dark red-violet blood ran out of the wounds and dripped onto the ground. 

"So, is the pain just as satisfying when you're on the receiving end?" Frieza grinned and tightened his grip until his fingertips disappeared under his father's skin. "This is for Wynter and every time you beat me senseless!" He stared murderously into the larger Icejin's eyes and gave the limb in his grasp a forceful yank. A crack of thunder drowned out a sickening snap mixed with the sound of something slimy being ripped. Blood splattered thickly all over Frieza's face and armor with a wet splat, painting his flawless skin a sickly mix of lavender and red-violet.

"AAAARRGGGHH!!!" Kold's vision went white with agony. "Haaaaa-AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!" The large screaming alien fell to his knees, staring wide-eyed at the jaggedly gushing stump where his hand used to be. He trembled and looked up at his blood-splattered son with one eye squeezed shut. "UNNNNNGH!!!! What...h-have you done!?!?" His strength failed right then, forcing him to fall facedown onto the featureless ground.

Frieza's eyes widened and twitched, and his stomach churned at the sight of the detatched limb still moving in his grasp. He dropped the severed hand a mere inch away from Kold's nose and backed away from the blood spreading out on the ground. The glow around his body faded just as mysteriously as it had appeared, and his power level dropped to normal.

"F-Friez-za..." King Kold began to feel woozy from the loss of blood, and his vision blurred on the severed hand lying inches from his face.

Frieza shook his head violently, his horns cutting horizontal slices in the air. He gathered his energy and flew away from the scene as fast as he could, leaving the larger Icejin behind in a puddle of blood. His mind could register nothing but the utter shock of his own strength; he had only intended to slash the hell out of his hand, not rip it clean off! 

After flying through the deafening thunder for a few minutes, Frieza landed heavily in a grassy meadow and lashed his tail thoughtfully. His long purple tongue darted out to lick a droplet of blood from his cheek, and his eyes lowered to the mess splattered on his armor. He tried to wipe it off with his clean hand, but all he managed to do was taint his unmarred skin and spread the blood around on his armor like jelly on bread.

Frieza stopped wiping at the blood when he realized it wouldn't rub off and looked at the dark red stains on his palms. The sound of his papa's screams returned to his ears. Screams not of anger, but of pain. Screams he had all-too-often emitted himself during their training. A flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning zapped overhead to illuminate his confused expression as he recalled the pain.

"Now you know how it feels..." The teenager closed his eyes and sighed ruefully. "Now you know how it feels to be weaker..." He stared down at his bloody palms again. 

For several moments, Frieza stood in stillness. Then, overcome with a strange urge, he buried his face in his palms and fell to his knees in the pale pink grass. He tried to fight off temptation, but it was too strong. His narrow shoulders began to shake silently under his armor, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. 

"Hm...hm, hm..." He finally lowered his hands to reveal deranged eyes and a sadistic grin tainted with blood. "Hah, hah, hah-hah," He twitched, finally giving in to temptation, and the shaking of his shoulders exploded into chilling laughter that seemed to echo throughout the entire universe, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! BWAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"  
  
A massive bolt of lightning struck the ground directly behind Frieza's laughing frame, silhouetting him with sparks, smoke and fire. More flashes of lightning went off overhead to illuminate either side of his pale painted visage, and a gust of wind stirred the flames behind him, the only witness to the side-effects of his first dose of power.

__

To be continued...


End file.
